The Space to Discern: Ordination Exploration Day

Growing up, I was absolutely bound and determined that I would not become a priest.

“Oops!”

If I’m honest, there was an element of rebellion involved – a natural resistance to following a certain path just because other people thought I should. But there was also an element of misunderstanding on both sides. For years, people told me I should be a priest because I liked being involved in church so much, and it gave me the impression that the role of a priest was to like church professionally. I thought that was a ridiculous reason to be a priest, and that if we ordained everyone who liked church, we’d just have a church full of priests and no lay people. (Which I also thought would be a silly way to be the church.)

What changed the game for me was finding myself at a retreat with other young adults who were also being nudged (either by people or by God) toward professional ministry, in a setting where we got to explore what it really meant and looked like to be a priest, a deacon, a professional lay minister, a monk, a bishop, etc. All of these were laid out before us as simply different ways to live a Christian life guided by a set of vows.

Once I could see baptismal ministry, diaconal ministry, and priestly ministry set side by side as equally important, in a room where I was under no pressure to discern one over another, I could finally understand: God was inviting me into a ministry that included celebrating baptisms, Eucharists, and other sacramental activities. And if I wanted those doors open to me, I had to accept that the name the Church gives to that ministry was “priest.”

This is the sort of space that Ordination Exploration Day (sometimes called Day of Information) is designed to offer. No pressure to know what God has called you to do or be; no pressure to meet someone else’s expectations for you. Just a chance to explore what it means to be a deacon, or a priest, or to discern a call from God, followed by clear information about what steps to take if that’s the path down which you’re drawn to follow Jesus.

If this sounds helpful or unnerving-but-intriguing… Ordination Exploration Day is for you.

If you’ve already decided you’re ready to enter the ordination process toward the diaconate or the priesthood, terrific! Ordination Exploration Day is a required step before proceeding further, so if you haven’t already attended a Day of Information session in previous years, please sign up for one this year.

If you are a lay leader or clergy member who sees a possible call to ordained ministry in someone around you, know this: For as much as I resisted having other people decide my path for me, I also would never have found myself at that retreat if a mentor at my parish hadn’t insisted. He saw both my call and my resistance, and he was wise enough to make consistent, clear invitations: not to tell me what my call was, but to say, “You need to make room to find out what God’s call to you is. This opportunity can help with that. If you’ll say yes to this retreat, the church will pay to get you there, and I’ll be here to process with you afterward.” You can be that person for someone else by naming the gifts you see before they realize they’re there, and by inviting them to try out Ordination Exploration Day.

Whatever your reason, whatever your level of confidence or clarity, if any of this sounds like you, I hope you’ll sign up for one of this fall’s two Ordination Exploration Days:

•         October 10, 10 am-2 pm, at St. David’s, Clairemont
•         October 24, 10 am-2 pm, at St. Paul in the Desert, Palm Springs